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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Finally, the first rumor recap since our return to blogging. This is the usual place where we discuss the past week's rumors, information leaks, and stuff like that. If you are a huge Android fan and prefer to follow these rumors as they show up, we recommend any or all of the Android blogs listed on the side of this site. Of course, if you're a huge Android fan, you're likely keeping up with at least one of those sites already. And now, some rumors!

First up, the HTC Bliss, a phone that has been rumored many times before and is reported to be a smartphone targeted at women (whatever that means), passed through the FCC this week. No new details are known, but this at least shows that the phone is, in fact, on its way.Ryan says: I'm really worried this phone is just going to be a pink version of an existing HTC phone. Some women would like that, I'm sure, but on the whole, just making a phone pink might be more insulting than useful.Shelsy says: Pink! Woo hoo! Just kidding...kind of. As much as I like pink, I'm very curious to see what they think women want. I have a few ideas of my own, but no one's asked me so I wonder if this will incorporate features that would actually appeal to me and other women.

In less of a rumor and more of a rumor crushing, Samsung officially came out this week saying that rumors of new devices are totally fake. Some people take this at face value and now write off that old rumor. Others take this as total proof that the devices referenced are real, because why would Samsung take time to deny them if it was just another rumor?Ryan says: Not a fan of Samsung, myself, so I could care less.Shelsy says: Well, I'm not going to take a side of whether the rumors are true or not. Like everything else, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

In more Samsung news, the company has announced that they have something big to show off on August 29. There's a big "II" logo on the invitation, so it's probably safe bet that they're going to finally show off the Galaxy SII for the United States. As for price, carriers, etc, all that is still anyone's guess.Ryan says: Like I said, I don't care for Samsung products, so I won't be buying it. That being said, the Galaxy SII is a very, very nice looking phone, and after the success of the original Galaxy series, I can definitely see the SII series being a huge hit with American audiences.Shelsy says: I'm curious to see how they're improving on the Galaxy line. I would guess this is going to be a really nice phone.

We got our first glimpse at what claims to be Ice Cream Sandwich this week, as both RootzWiki and AndroidPolice posted screenshots of the new OS. They stand by their sources, but, of course, there's no way to know for sure that the next version of Android will look like this when it's released. They claim that in addition to the new launcher, both Gmail and the Camera app are redone with new features.Ryan says: The new launcher looks like a very minimal upgrade, nothing special. But the camera having a panorama mode sounds very nice.Shelsy says: I'm always excited about updates. I'm hoping Ice Cream Sandwich will bring a lot more new features and improvements that we don't know about yet.

Lastly, we got some more details about the upcoming HTC Ruby this week. According to TmoNews, the device is coming to T-Mobile USA with a 1.5GHz processor and a 4.3" high-res screen. This would make it better than the Sensation, which is an HTC phone launched just a few months ago on T-Mobile. More details like price or exact release date are unknown.Ryan says: Carriers always like to have lots of options for customers, but it seems odd to me that one carrier would stock two phones from the same manufacturer that are so similar in specs. Unless there's something else about the Ruby, or unless T-Mobile plans to discontinue the Sensation, I think something is a little fishy here...Shelsy says: I don't think it's all that fishy. Newer and better, that's what American consumers want, right?

And there you have it. We're very quickly approaching the holiday season, meaning juicy rumors like these are only going to increase. Come back next week for a fresh batch!